1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a monitoring device for an electric power system and, more particularly, to a monitoring device for an electric power system which detects whether an abnormal current has occurred in the electric power system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, transformer stations of electric power systems distributed over a wide area may be accessed by a monitoring center via various communication manners. However, human repair is still the most common way to repair the electric power systems as it would be costly to build such monitoring centers for maintenance purposes of the electric power systems. Besides, the modern electric power system has a much wider coverage, which makes it more costly for maintenance.
The modern electric power system has very complex wiring. In fact, electricity generated by power stations is delivered to the transformer stations via high voltage lines. Then, the electricity is delivered to destination areas by power distribution circuits of the transformer stations. The voltages received in the destination areas are then converted by pole mounted transformers into lower voltages to be provided to users. To maintain better service quality, power companies must regularly check the electric power system to fix or repair equipments or circuits that have been worn out. However, it will cost a lot for fixing or repairing the equipments or circuits, and it is also difficult to ensure good checking practice of the maintenance specialists. Furthermore, even regular inspection cannot prevent unexpected malfunctions of the electric power system that can happen anytime. As a result, it will be time-consuming for the maintenance specialists to find out when problems occur and their locations in the electric power system.
Taiwan Patent Number 526335 discloses an electric power system consisting of a plurality of branch stations. In the electric power system, each branch station has its own detection circuit for detecting abnormal operations thereof. The branch stations perform signal transmission via global positioning system (GPS) to rapidly locate places where errors have occurred. The located places are then transmitted to a map system of the electric power system in a wireless manner, which then further indicates the specific locations of the errors. In such a wireless transmission manner, a centralized monitoring center has been realized for monitoring the operation of the electric power system.
As the above mechanisms are significantly time-consuming (Based on significant time consumption of the above mechanisms), it is desired to develop a monitoring device for the electric power system which improves on the centralized monitoring center.